The Kansas Latin Americanist The Center of Latin American Studies Celebrates 50 years in Style T his Fall the Center of Latin American Stud- ies celebrated its 50th Year Anniversary with a wide array of events from November 18 th -20 th , 2011. The 50th Anniversary brought to- gether students, faculty, alumni and Latin Ameri- can organizations on campus and culminated in a three day celebration of the history, legacy and future of Latin American Studies here at KU. The theme this year was appropriately, “Latin American Studies in a Global Context: Past, Present, and Fu- ture.” The 50th Anniversary Celebration kicked off on Friday, November 18th, 2011 with the 20th Annual Waggoner Research Colloquium. Geraldo de Sou- sa, Professor of English & Acting Director of the Center for Fall 2011and Danny Anderson, Profes- sor of Spanish & Portuguese, Dean, College of Liberal Arts & Sciences gave the introduction and welcoming remarks. The Waggoner’s featured speakers were Stephen Goddard, Associate Direc- tor and Senior Curator of Prints & Drawings, Spen- cer Museum of Art who presented, “Latin Ameri- can Art;” Tamara Falicov, Chairperson and Asso- ciate Professor, Department of Film & Media Stud- ies, who presented “Cine en construcción (Films in Progress): The San Sebastián (Spain) Film Festival and Its Role in Shaping Latin American Films;” and Anton Rosenthal, Associate Professor, Depart- ment of History, presented “City of Lies: Fear, Eth- ics and History in the Cinematic Street.” The celebration continued with a conference on Saturday, November 20 th from 8:30-5:00 that brought together current faculty and past alumni to talk about their research and the impact of Latin American Studies on their lives. Thank you to all of our speakers and chairs! Speakers: Leticia Arroyo Abad, Assistant Professor of Eco- nomics, Middlebury College Marc Becker, Professor of History/Latin American Studies, Truman State University Dr. Maria Eugenia Bozzoli, Professor Emerita & Vice Chancellor, University of Costa Rica " Latin American Studies and Globalization" J. Christopher Brown, Associate Professor of En- vironmental Studies and Geography; Director, Environmental Studies Program, KU Marshall Eakin, Professor of History, Vanderbilt University Marsha S. Haufler, Professor of Art History, and Associate Dean for International Studies, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, KU Amanda Heter, Project Specialist at the Christian Foundation for Children and Aging, KC Brent Metz, Associate Prof. of Anthropology, KU Matías Cafaro, Associate Professor of Biology, University of Puerto Rico Christopher M. Schumm, Vice President, Morgan Stanley, Kansas City Elisa (Nelson) Zogbi, Democracy and Governance Officer, USAID, Washington, D.C. Continued on page 3 Inside this issue: 50th Anniversary Celebration & 20th Waggoner Colloq. Cover From the Director’s Desk P.2 J. Soberón Award P.3 50th Celebration continued P.3 Hall Center Seminar P.3 Maya 2012 Event P.4 Stansifer Book Donation P.4 Faculty Updates P.5-6 Faculty Highlight P.6 Students Helping Honduras P.7 Anthropological Field School P.7 Retirement Reception P.7 MOAS P.8 News from Outreach P.9 Graduate Snapshot P.9 Merienda Lecture Series P.10 LAS Film Festival P.10 Student Awards & Updates P.11 Undergraduate Highlight P.11 Pan American Day & Week P.11 Giving P.12 SEMESTER YEAR Spring 2012 Anton Rosenthal, Associate Professor of History; Danny Anderson, Dean of the College of Liberal Arts & Sciences; Cathe- rine Preston, Associate Professor of Film Media Studies; and Kimberly Anderson at the LAS 50th Anniversary Banquet.
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The Kansas Latin Americanist
The Center of Latin American Studies Celebrates 50 years in Style
T his Fall the Center of Latin American Stud-
ies celebrated its 50th Year Anniversary
with a wide array of events from November
18th-20th, 2011. The 50th Anniversary brought to-
gether students, faculty, alumni and Latin Ameri-
can organizations on campus and culminated in a
three day celebration of the history, legacy and
future of Latin American Studies here at KU. The
theme this year was appropriately, “Latin American
Studies in a Global Context: Past, Present, and Fu-
ture.”
The 50th Anniversary Celebration kicked off on
Friday, November 18th, 2011 with the 20th Annual
Waggoner Research Colloquium. Geraldo de Sou-
sa, Professor of English & Acting Director of the
Center for Fall 2011and Danny Anderson, Profes-
sor of Spanish & Portuguese, Dean, College of
Liberal Arts & Sciences gave the introduction and
welcoming remarks. The Waggoner’s featured
speakers were Stephen Goddard, Associate Direc-
tor and Senior Curator of Prints & Drawings, Spen-
cer Museum of Art who presented, “Latin Ameri-
can Art;” Tamara Falicov, Chairperson and Asso-
ciate Professor, Department of Film & Media Stud-
ies, who presented “Cine en construcción (Films in
Progress): The San Sebastián (Spain) Film Festival
and Its Role in Shaping Latin American Films;”
and Anton Rosenthal, Associate Professor, Depart-
ment of History, presented “City of Lies: Fear, Eth-
ics and History in the Cinematic Street.”
The celebration continued with a conference on
Saturday, November 20th from 8:30-5:00 that
brought together current faculty and past alumni to
talk about their research and the impact of Latin
American Studies on their lives. Thank you to all of
our speakers and chairs!
Speakers:
Leticia Arroyo Abad, Assistant Professor of Eco-
nomics, Middlebury College
Marc Becker, Professor of History/Latin American
Studies, Truman State University
Dr. Maria Eugenia Bozzoli, Professor Emerita &
Vice Chancellor, University of Costa Rica " Latin
American Studies and Globalization"
J. Christopher Brown, Associate Professor of En-
vironmental Studies and Geography; Director,
Environmental Studies Program, KU
Marshall Eakin, Professor of History, Vanderbilt
University
Marsha S. Haufler, Professor of Art History, and
Associate Dean for International Studies, College
of Liberal Arts and Sciences, KU
Amanda Heter, Project Specialist at the Christian
Foundation for Children and Aging, KC
Brent Metz, Associate Prof. of Anthropology, KU
Matías Cafaro, Associate Professor of Biology,
University of Puerto Rico
Christopher M. Schumm, Vice President, Morgan
Stanley, Kansas City
Elisa (Nelson) Zogbi, Democracy and Governance
Officer, USAID, Washington, D.C.
Continued on page 3
Inside this issue:
50th Anniversary Celebration &
20th Waggoner Colloq. Cover
From the Director’s Desk P.2
J. Soberón Award P.3
50th Celebration continued P.3
Hall Center Seminar P.3
Maya 2012 Event P.4
Stansifer Book Donation P.4
Faculty Updates P.5-6
Faculty Highlight P.6
Students Helping Honduras P.7
Anthropological Field School P.7
Retirement Reception P.7
MOAS P.8
News from Outreach P.9
Graduate Snapshot P.9
Merienda Lecture Series P.10
LAS Film Festival P.10
Student Awards & Updates P.11
Undergraduate Highlight P.11
Pan American Day & Week P.11
Giving P.12
SEMES TER
YEAR
Spring
2012
Anton Rosenthal, Associate Professor of
History; Danny Anderson, Dean of the
College of Liberal Arts & Sciences; Cathe-
rine Preston, Associate Professor of Film
Media Studies; and Kimberly Anderson at
the LAS 50th Anniversary Banquet.
I am back in the saddle at the Center of
Latin American Studies after my Hall
Center research leave in the fall. I am
grateful to Geraldo de Sousa who stepped
into the Director’s role in the fall and to
Judy Farmer and Sydney Stone who helped
to provide continuity in the office. I am very
pleased to be working with Peter Haney, our
new Assistant Director who comes to us
with a PhD in Anthropology from the Uni-
versity of Texas, and to continue to collabo-
rate with Melissa Birch, who serves as As-
sociate Director and Director of Graduate
Studies and is on loan to us from the School
of Business. Melissa will be taking a well-
deserved (and much desired) sabbatical in
the fall and stepping down as Associate
Director. I am grateful to her for her work at
the Center over the last year and a half in
this position, for she has great dedication to
the field and has facilitated its workings in
many ways. I am pleased to let you know
that Tony Rosenthal from History will be
stepping into the Associate Director/
Graduate Director role and I look forward to
working with him for the next two years.
Things are rolling around here: we are send-
ing our group of students off to the Model
Organization of American States as I write -
- the KU group represents Paraguay this
year. This has been a great match for us
since it allows us to take advantage of KU’s
multiple connections to that country: KU-
Paraguay Partners, Medical School ex-
changes through Wichita campus and study
abroad experiences for students at KU Med;
the Ambassador of Paraguay, Rigoberto
Gauto, stopped by the office in March and
we are
planning
a fall Biodiversity photo exhibit and event at
the Kansas City library cosponsored by the
Pan-American Society and featuring Town
Peterson as a speaker. This event will com-
plement next year’s thematic focus which is
Latin America and the Environment. Chris
Brown from Environmental Studies and
Peter Herlihy from Geography will be
spearheading the Hall Center Seminar on
this topic and Chris is creating a new inter-
disciplinary course on the topic for the fall.
Look for these coming attractions!
In the meantime, this year’s focus on Indig-
enous identities brings us Quetzil Casteñeda
from the University of Indiana who will
bring this year’s seminar to its conclusion.
He will also collaborate with John Hoopes,
(Anthropology), to present a public event on
the Maya 2012 phenomenon, or the possible
end of a “world age,” at the Lawrence Pub-
lic Library. And you should already have in
your calendars May 10th , when we will be
honoring Anita Herzfeld’s retirement also in
the Malott Room, 3-5. Please plan to join us
and toast Anita’s many contributions to KU
during her almost 50 years here.
We have another farewell to bid to a key
faculty member this semester: Jana Krentz.
Jana has accepted the position of curator of
the Latin American collection at Yale Uni-
versity; it is a wonderful offer which attests
to her skill and achievements in her field.
During her nearly 18 years at KU Libraries,
Jana has headed the International Area
Studies department and the Dept. for Spain,
Portugal and Latin America. She has also
served as the liaison with the Dept. of Span-
ish and Portuguese and the Center of Latin
American Studies. She has developed and
taught our Introduction to Latin American
Research class for MA students and has
developed a series of interactive online re-
search tutorials. Jana has consistently served
on the Executive and the Graduate Commit-
tees of the Center of Latin American Stud-
ies. She has been a fundamental figure in
the success of our program and it will be
very difficult to find someone to fill her
shoes. We will let you know when a fiesta
de despedida is finalized for Jana.
Sometime last year while talking with Peter
Herlihy, it came to our attention that we
have several faculty members who work as
contributing editors for the Handbook of
Latin American Studies. Published by the
Library of Congress and the University of
Texas Press, the Handbook’s webpage de-
scribes its function this way: The Handbook
is a bibliography on Latin America consist-
ing of works selected and annotated by
scholars. Edited by the Hispanic Division of
the Library of Congress, the multidiscipli-
nary Handbook alternates annually between
the social sciences and the humanities. Each
year, more than 130 academics from around
the world choose over 5,000 works for in-
clusion in the Handbook. Continuously pub-
lished since 1936, the Handbook offers Lat-
in Americanists an essential guide to availa-
ble resources.” Bart Dean, from KU’s De-
partment of Anthropology is a contributing
editor for “Ethnology of Lowland South
America” while Peter Herlihy is a Contrib-
uting Editor for Central America. Melissa
Birch currently edits the section on Brazil
and Political Economy: Paraguay. For a few
years I edited the section on “Peruvian Poet-
ry,” however, I currently edit the contribu-
tion on “Poetry of the Río de la Plata re-
gion.” I know that George Woodyard edited
the “Latin American Theater” section for
years, and while there may be other editors
at KU who haven’t come to our attention,
the continued involvement of our professors
in this on-going project is a tribute to our
faculty’s varied expertise.
We continue to foster collaboration among
colleagues at KU, with neighboring univer-
sities and community colleges, and with
colleagues and communities in Latin Ameri-
ca. Thank you for your interest in and sup-
port of our myriad activities, which appear
throughout this newsletter!
Saludos cordiales,
Jill
Jill Kuhnheim,
Director of the
Center of Latin
American
Studies
2
From the Director’s Desk, Spring 2012
T he Latin American Semi-
nar explores the regional,
topical, and methodologi-
cal research strengths and con-
cerns of the KU Latin American-
ist faculty and graduate stu-
dents. The Seminar is a key
integrating component of the
Center’s NRC Grant (2010-
2014) strategy to promote Latin
Americanist Scholarship among
KU faculty and graduate stu-
dents.
The 2011-2012 series “Latin
American Indigenous Identity in
the Global Diaspora,” focuses on
how indigenous peoples are re-
shaping their identities in a trans-
national world. Spring 2012’s
distinguished presenters include:
Friday, Feb. 24, 2012 Tiffa-
ny Creegan Miller, PhD Candi-
date, Spanish & Portuguese “(N/
K)inya('/a) chike('/e) jub('a/iq'),
xa man ronojel ta(j)": Negotiat-
ing Mayaness via Performances
of Kaqchikel and K'iche Songs
and Poetry” 3:30pm - 5:00pm,
Hall Center Seminar Room
Monday, Mar. 5, 2012 Rob-
ert Schwaller, History
"Defining Difference in Early
New Spain" 3:30pm - 5:00pm,
Hall Center Seminar Room
Friday, Apr. 27, 2012 Quet-
zil Castaneda, OSEA-CITE,
Indiana University
"Ethnographic Archaeologies of
Indigenous Identities" 3:30pm -
5:00pm, Hall Center Seminar
Room Co-sponsored by the De-
partment of Anthropology.
Friday, May 11, 2012 Emi-
lia Barbosa, PhD Candidate in
Spanish & Portuguese
"Performing Mayanness in Con-
temporary Guatemala—
Reflections on Postmodern In-
digenous Identity and Globaliza-
tion" 3:30pm - 5:00pm, Hall
Center Seminar Room
The Hall Center Latin American Seminar
3
Senior Scientist & Latin Americanist, Dr. Jorge Sobero n
recognized by President Felipe Caldero n of Mexico
Dr. Jorge Soberón, Professor & Senior Scientist of Ecology
& Evolutionary Biology (left) and Mexican President, Felipe
Calderón (right)
Dr. Jorge Soberón, Professor & Senior Scientist of Ecol-
ogy & Evolutionary Biology at the 20th Anniversary of
Conabio in Mexico City, MX
D r. Jorge Soberón, Professor & Senior Sci-
entist of Ecology & Evolutionary Biology
was recognized on March 15th, 2012 by
President Felipe Calderon of Mexico for his
groundbreaking work on the National Commission
for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity
(Conabio).
The ceremony took place at the Presidential Resi-
dence of Los Pinos and marked the 20th Anniver-
sary of the creation of Conabio. In honor of this
celebration awards were given to five prominent
researchers who helped develop the program from
the start, Dr. Soberón along with fellow researchers
Arturo Gómez-Pompa, Gonzalo Halffter, Peter
Hamilton, Jerzy Rzedowski, and Francisco Takaki.
In March of 1992, three months prior to the cele-
bration of the United Nations Conference on Envi-
ronment and Development -the Earth Summit- in
Rio de Janeiro, the National Commission for the
Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity of Mexico
(CONABIO, by its Spanish acronym) was estab-
lished by a presidential decree.
CONABIO was created as a permanent Interminis-
terial Commission with the mission of coordinating
and promoting activities related to the knowledge
and sustainable use of the biodiversity of Mexico.
This commission has been an integral part in
worldwide evaluation of ecosystems and biodiver-
sity from a social perspective, and has made biodi-
versity a matter of national interest, since Mexico
has the fourth greatest biological diversity world-
wide.
Chairs:
Peter Herlihy, Associate Professor of Geography,
KU
Anita Herzfeld, Professor of Latin American Stud-
ies and Undergraduate Director and Advisor,
Center of Latin American Studies, KU;
Ana Sittenfeld, Director of International Programs,
University of Costa Rica;
Brent Steele, Associate Professor of Political Sci-
ence and Director of Faculty Programs, Office of
International Programs, KU
The 50th Celebration concluded with a private ban-
quet Saturday evening with musical performances
by Javier Valerio, Latin American Saxophonist &
PhD Candidate in the School of Music and Genaro
Mendez, Associate Professor of Voice, School of
Music, accompanied by pianist Charles Badami,
Instructor of Music, Northwest Missouri State Uni-
versity. The Center was honored to have Chancel-
lor, Bernadette Gray-Little give welcoming re-
marks. The banquet gave special recognition to the
long standing history of the Center but also to two
outstanding individuals, former director and Pro-
fessor Emeritus of History, Dr. Charles Stansifer,
and Dr. Anita Herzfeld, Professor of Latin Ameri-
can Studies. The Center is looking forward to the
next 50 years!
50th Celebration Continued
Stansifer Book Donation
4
Maya 2012 Event Co-Sponsored by LAS & the Lawrence Public
Library
If you are still prepping your
apocalypse kit for the end of
the world this December you
should have attended visiting
professor Dr. Quetzil
Castan eda’s lecture at Law-
rence Public Library on April
26th. Castan eda shed some
scholarly light on the Maya
2012 phenomenon.
The Lawrence Public Library
teamed up with the KU Center
of Latin American Studies to
bring you this special public
lecture. Professor Castan eda
showed clips from his award-
winning documentary film,
Incidents of Travel in Chichen
Itzá, and spoke about the Maya
2012 calendar, including the
end of the 5,125 year-long cy-
cle, astrological alignments,
and the events set to occur in
December 2012. The event
took place in the Lawrence
Public Library Auditorium and
had over 100 guests in attend-
ance.
A n extensive gift of more
than 20,000 Latin Amer-
ican books, pamphlets
and papers from a KU emeritus
professor will serve to deepen an
already substantial collection that
he helped to create.
Charles Stansifer, professor emer-
itus of history and a former direc-
tor of the KU Center of Latin
American Studies, has donated his
personal collection and papers,
including items from Nicaragua,
Costa Rica, Mexico, Paraguay
and other Central and South
American countries. Some books
will go to the Latin American
collection in Watson Library; the
rarer books, papers, pamphlets
and other ephemera will go to
Spencer Research Library. The
collection, which Stansifer built
over more than five decades, con-
tains thousands of items.
The gift is the capstone of Stansif-
er’s long-standing efforts on be-
half of the Latin American collec-
tion at KU Libraries. He served
on the committee that selected
and purchased the core collection
in the ‘60s, a time when there
were few sources of books from
Central and South America in the
United States. Collection-building
meant traveling to those regions
and bringing back the books.
“I remember going to Costa Rica
with him,” said Jana Krentz, KU
librarian and head of KU Librar-
ies’ International Area Studies
department. “He would pack suit-
cases inside suitcases for the trip
down, and fill them all with books
for the trip back. It was just in-
credible.”
“Charley brought back some of
our really great collections at the
Kenneth Spencer Research Li-
brary, including the Lines Collec-
tion, the Casement Collection,
and the Zuñiga Montúfar Collec-
tion. We went together to pur-
chase the Flores Andino Collec-
tion,” Krentz said. “We were only
able to do that because of
Charley’s contacts.”
“Dr. Stansifer is a noted Central
American historian, but his inter-
ests go well beyond Central
America,” said Melissa Birch,
associate professor of business,
who collaborated with Stansifer in
the Center of Latin American
Studies, where he served as direc-
tor for many years. “Charley was
instrumental in the University’s
acquisition of the Natalicio Gon-
zalez collection and in encourag-
ing many scholars to come use the
materials. Always a Jayhawk,
Charley devotes incredible energy
to building bridges between Kan-
sas, its people and its academic
institutions, and all of Latin
America.”
Stansifer explained how his 42-
year career at KU led him to make
the gift.
“During my time at KU, I have
become very aware of the out-
standing Latin American re-
sources and collections held with-
in KU Libraries,” said Stansifer.
“I hope this gift will make this
collection even stronger, because
the libraries and its resources are
vital to research, teaching and
learning at KU.”
Melissa Birch, Associate Director of the Center of Latin American Studies & Associate Professor of Business; Chris Brown, Professor
of Environmental Studies; Peter Herlihy, Associate Professor of Geography; Charles Stansifer, Professor Emeritus of History and
Former Director of the Center of Latin American Studies; Anita Herzfeld, Professor of Latin American Studies; and Jana Krentz, Asso-
ciate Librarian, and head of KU Libraries’ International Area Studies department.
Dr. Charles Stansifer (center) at the book
donation recognition ceremony held at KU
Watson Library
5
Santa Arias, Professor of Spanish and Portuguese, received a
Fulbright/CIES fellowship to Colombia where she is completing
archival research for her book Transatlantic Reconfigurations of
the Americas. As part of her fellowship, she is teaching a graduate
course in the Department of Literature at the Universidad de los
Andes (Bogotá) titled "Mapas, Imperios e Identidades." Last se-
mester she published “La dialéctica de ver el Orinoco: la Historia
corográfica y evangélica de la Nueva Andalucía de fray Antonio
Caulín (1779)" in the book: Desplazamientos y disyunciones:
Nuevos itinerarios de los estudios coloniales, (ed. Stephanie Kirk,
Instituto Internacional de Literatura Iberoamericana);
and “Conversión, contrarreforma y negación imperial: El espacio
cristiano en Del único modo de atraer a todos los pueblos a la
verdadera religión,” in Estudios postcoloniales transatlánticos,
(eds. Ileana Rodríguez and Josebe Martínez, Anthropos). Her vol-
ume Unequal Encounters: between Religion and the Rhetoric of
the Law (co-edited with Raúl Marrero-Fente) has been accepted
for publication by the Hispanic Issues Series. For the LASA 2013
International Congress she will serve as chair of the Colonial and
19th-century Literature track.
Gregory Cushman, Associate Professor of History, spent several
weeks of his sabbatical in South America completing archival and
field research for his second book The Environmental Basis of
Indigenous Cosmology in the Andean and Pacific Worlds. In No-
vember 2011, he gave the keynote address, on “The Discovery
and Impacts of El Niño and La Niña,” at the inaugural meeting of
Mexico’s Environmental History National Network held at the
Autonomous University of San Luis Potosí. His article
“Humboldtian Science, Creole Meteorology, and the Discovery of
Human-Caused Climate Change in Northern South America” ap-
peared in Osiris 26 (2011): 19-44. He is the co-director of the
Environmental Section of LASA.
Verónica Garibotto, Assistant Professor of Spanish & Portu-
guese, has finished her book manuscript “Crisis y reemergencia:
el siglo xix en la ficción contemporánea de Argentina, Chile y
Uruguay.” The manuscript is now under consideration at a univer-
sity press. She has also traveled to Argentina with NFGRF fund-
ing to look for research materials for her new project on post-
dictatorial literature and film. Her article "Iconic Fictions: Narrat-
ing Recent Argentine History in Post-2000 Second-Generation
Films" is forthcoming in Studies in Hispanic Cinemas.
Laura Hobson Herlihy, Lecturer of Latin
American Studies, published her book, “The
Mermaid and the Lobster Diver; Gender,
Sexuality, and Money on the Miskito
Coast” (University of New Mexico Press,
2012). Herlihy will for the third time lead
the KU Center of Latin American Studies
Study Abroad program to Puerto Cabezas,
Nicaragua. The program focuses on the in-
digenous Miskitu language and for the se-
cond year was approved by the US Depart-
ment of Education, meaning students are eligible for FLAS
(Foreign Language and Studies Fellowships) grants to attend the
program through the Center. Herlihy will also present the paper,
“Political Autonomy, Gender Violence, and Indigenous Women’s
Rights in Nicaragua,” at the 54 Congreso Internacional de Ameri-
canistas, as part of the session, “El Régimen de Autonomía de
Nicaragua: Consolidación y Reforma.” Vienna, Austria, July 15-
19, 2012.
Anita Herzfeld, Professor of Latin American Studies, (together
with Prof. Peter Herlihy, KU, and Prof. Carmen Camaño, UCR)
were guest editors of the
latest issue of the Revista
“Reflexiones” de la Fac-
ultad de Ciencias Sociales
de la Universidad de Cos-
ta Rica. This particular
publication was devoted
to some of the papers
presented at the Space
Symposium held at the
UCR in October of 2011,
also organized by the
above mentioned faculty
members. She was also
one of the organizers of
the 50th anniversary of
the existence of the Center
of Latin American Studies, held at KU in November of 2011. Dur-
ing March 2012, Herzfeld will chair a “Mesa Temática” on con-
tact languages at the meeting of the local ALFAL(ito) to be held
at the University of La Plata from March 20th to 23rd and will
also present a paper in that symposium. She is currently organiz-
ing a panel on Contact Languages for the 53rd International Con-
gress of Americanists to be held in Vienna next July, where she
will read a paper. She will also be participating in the 15th Medi-
terranean Studies Association meeting to be held in Pula, Croatia
(May 29th-June 3rd ), where she will read a paper entitled “The
Morphology of Lunfardo, the popular speech of Buenos Aires,
Argentina.”
Jana Krentz, Head Librarian of International Area Studies de-
partment, has accepted the position of curator of the Latin Ameri-
can collection at Yale University. Jana serves as KU's Head of the
Dept. for Spain, Portugal and Latin America, and as the liaison
with the Dept. of Spanish and Portuguese and the Center of Latin
American Studies. She teaches more than 70 instruction sessions a
year, and has developed a series of interactive online tutorials. She
also teaches a graduate seminar for the Center of Latin American
Studies.
donna luckey, Prof. Emerita of Architecture. luckey recently trav-
eled to Costa Rica, and was hosted by various Architecture Facul-
ty at UCR and Percy practices architecture in Costa Rica. luckey
donated many maps, plans, and drawings collected from the Unit-
ed Fruit Company/Banana Company of Costa Rica during her
research efforts in the 1980s and 1990s. The reception in Costa
Rica of her materials and photos was very positive, with talk of a
possible exhibit in Golfito at the Cultural Center sometime in the
future.
Dr. Herzfeld and KU Alumni in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Spring 2012. From left: Silvia E.
Vargas, from Costa Rica, KU Graduate, 1991 in
Architectural Studies and 1993 Master’s in Urban Planning; Anita Herzfeld, Professor of
LAS; and Eduardo A. Veliz, from Panama, KU
Master’s in Medicinal Chemistry, 1986; and
KU Ph. D. in Medicinal Chemistry, 1992.
Faculty Updates
Faculty Updates Continued
Faculty
Highlight:
Dr. Peter Haney,
Assistant
Director &
Undergraduate
Advisor,
Latin American
Studies
T he Center of Latin American
Studies welcomes Dr. Peter
Haney as the newest member of
the LAS staff. Dr. Haney started as the
Assistant Director this Spring and has
taken over the role of Undergraduate Ad-
visor for the Center’s growing undergrad-
uate program. Dr. Haney has taught at the
University of Texas at Austin, Colorado
College, Pikes Peak Community College,
and Colorado State University-
Pueblo. His principal area of research and
teaching is ethnic Mexican history, cul-
ture, and performance in what is now the
southwestern United States.
He has published in such journals as Lan-
guage and Communication, Pragmatics,
The Journal of Linguistic Anthropology,
and The Journal of American Folk-
lore. His work is scheduled to appear in
the forthcoming Routledge Companion to
Contemporary Anthropology and in the
fourth volume of essays from the U.S.
Latina and Latino World War II Oral His-
tory Project. He has also consulted for
public history projects related to his work,
including the 2004 PBS documentary Vi-
siones and an exhibit on the carpa (“tent
show”) in Texas at the Hertzberg Circus
Museum in San Antonio, Texas.
6
Brent Metz, Associate Professor of Anthropol-
ogy, presented “Ch'orti' Mayas in Northwestern
El Salvador? Misadventures & Revelations in
Surveying Indigeneity & Mestizaje” at LASA's
2nd Ethnicity, Race, & Indigenous Peoples
Conference in San Diego, CA on Nov. 3, 2011.
He also led an Engineers Without Borders pro-
fessional team to eastern Guatemala in Novem-
ber 2011. He will continue to guide this group
over the next 5 years, including on a trip this
May and June. He plans to run his applied an-
thropology field school to Honduras again in
January 2013.
Mehrangiz Najafizadeh, Associate Professor
of Sociology was awarded the 2012 Del
Shankel Teaching Excellence Award, which
was presented by Professor Del Shankel at
the 2012 Jayhawk Senior Banquet at Allen
Field House on April 29th, 2012.
Yajaira M. Padilla, Associate Professor of
Spanish & Portuguese, was awarded a Visiting
Fellowship by the Institute for Humanities Re-
search at Arizona State University for Spring
2012. During her fellowship, she conducted
research for her second book project tentatively
titled “Central Americans in the US: The Poli-
tics of Belonging and Non-belonging,” that
focuses on how Central Americans negotiate
their “undesirability” as citizen-subjects of the
United States. Her first monograph, “Changing
Women, Changing Nation: Female Agency,
Identity, and Nationhood in Trans-Salvadoran
Narratives” is due to be published by SUNY
Press in June 2012. This book, the first to focus
on Salvadoran and Salvadoran American litera-
ture, proposes gender as an invaluable lens for
examining the interrelated histories of women’s
participation in national and transnational en-
deavors and that of a changing Salvadoran
(trans)nation.
Anton Rosenthal, Associate Professor of His-
tory, published his article, “Radical Border
Crossers: The Industrial Workers of the World
and their Press in Latin America” in Estudios
Interdisciplinarios de América Latina y el Car-
ibe, 22:2, Julio-Diciembre, 2011. He also co-
taught the University Honors Commons Course
in Spring 2012 on "The Visual City" with
Catherine Preston, Associate Professor of
Film Media Studies.
Paul Sneed, Assistant Professor of Spanish &
Portuguese, wrote two articles, “Learning in
Community Encounters: Lessons from the Fa-
vela” and “Dark Encounters in Tourism and
Journalism in the Pacification of Rocinha Fave-
la,” and part one of a book manuscript on com-
munity-based learning in popular culture and
everyday life in the squatter town of Rocinha,
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He gave an invited
talk on non-profits in favelas in contemporary
film and screened his documentary at the Uni-
versity of Missouri. He also organized a panel
for LASA on favelas in film (for which he’ll
present a paper on favela funk in film). His
second documentary, Encontros, is in post-
production. After collaborating on a story on
the police pacification of the Rocinha favela in
Rio with CNN International’s Back|Story, he
was interviewed on air. He continues to work
with the Two Brothers Foundation, an NGO
based in Rio (www.2bros.org), as Contact for
Researchers and Service Learning.
Jorge Soberón, Professor & Senior Scientist of
Ecology & Evolutionary Biology was recog-
nized by President Felipe Calderón of Mexico
for his groundbreaking work on the National
Commission for the Knowledge and Use of
Biodiversity. The award was given to Dr. So-
berón along with fellow researchers Arturo
Gómez-Pompa, Gonzalo Halffter, Peter Hamil-
ton, Jerzy Rzedowski, and Francisco Takaki in
honor of the 20th Anniversary of Conabio. Dr.
Soberón also co-led the 2012 Model Organiza-
tion of American States Delegation along with
Professor Melissa Birch. The delegation, rep-
resenting Paraguay traveled to Washington
D.C. April 2nd-7th, 2012.
Charles Stansifer, Professor Emeritus of His-
tory, and a former director of the KU Center of
Latin American Studies, has donated his per-
sonal collection and papers, an extensive gift of
more than 20,000 Latin American books, pam-
phlets and papers. See article on pg. 4
Ketty Wong, Assistant Professor of Music,
attended the presentation of her book “La músi-
ca nacional: Identidad, Mestizaje y Migración
en el Ecuador” at the Casa de las Américas in
Havana on March 23, 2012. Her book manu-
script received the Casa de las Américas Musi-
cology Award in 2010 and part of the award is
the publication of the book.
7
By Carly Adams, Co-
Founder
Student Helping Honduras,
KU Chapter
I t all started out as just an idea between two friends; get on a plane,
travel to a developing coun-try, volunteer and make a difference. Yet, this past winter break, it became a reality for Carly Adams, from Sedgwick, KS and Jen-na Olitsky, from Leawood, KS, both juniors, through an organization called Students Helping Honduras (SHH). Adams found the organiza-tion through MTV Real World’s Mike Ross, who had recently returned from a trip through SHH. After discuss-ing it with Olitsky, they were both in, the only two from KU to go, for the Winter II session.
Through SHH, Adams and Olitsky were placed with a
team of thirteen others, from Illinois, Washington D.C., Maryland, Virginia, New York, New Jersey, and Puer-to Rico. They were among the 190 volunteers to go down for the one-week stay in El Progresso, Honduras, volunteering at various sites to build or reconstruct ele-mentary schools in rural are-as. Adams and Olitsky worked on Primavera Ele-mentary School, located twenty minutes outside El Progresso in the mountains.
As a team, SHH worked to build three classrooms that were weatherproofed and sustainable. The days were long, but the trip was not all work. During breaks volun-teers would play with the school children, learn Span-ish, play soccer matches, go to the beach, and bond with fellow group members. The trip was a lot of hard work,
but an extremely re-warding and memorable one.
Adams and Olitsky, came back to KU after their trip and co-founded KU Students Helping Honduras, along with Alissa Anderson, junior from Derby, KS and Rachelle Friedman, sopho-more from Overland Park, KS. Laura Herlihy, lecturer in Latin American Studies, and expert in the Honduras and Nicaragua area will be their faculty advisor. The four hope to build up the organization, with people who are enthusiastic about helping the villages around El Progresso, through aware-ness, fundraising, volunteer-ing, or all the above. If inter-ested in joining or wanting to receive more information you can email KU SHH at:
T he Center's Merienda lectures, held most Thursdays during the fall and spring semesters, provide an op-portunity for invited students, faculty, community members and visiting scholars to share their experi-ences and research in Latin America. The speakers represent a wide range of disciplines and back-
grounds. Presentations typically last 40-45 minutes and allow for audience questions at the end. A simple lunch of rice and beans is served. Meriendas take place in Bailey Hall, Room 318 from 12:00-1:00pm. We would like to thank all the Fall 2011 and Spring 2012 Merienda presenters listed below. Please visit our website the Merienda website under the News & Events section for more information and event photos. Thank you: Fall 2011 Schedule: Sept 8 Anita Herzfeld Sept 15 Linda Lee Sept 22 Francisco Robles Sept 29 Cristian Dimitriu Oct 6 Tiffany Creegan Miller Oct 13 MOAS Merienda Oct. 20 Ketty Wong Oct 27 Patricia Foxen Nov 3 Edma Delgado Nov 10 Brent Metz Nov 17 Laura Herlihy Dec 1 Andrew Hilburn
Spring 2012 Schedule: February 2 Jill Kuhnheim February 9 Bill Woods February 16 Stacey Burton February 23 Bart Dean March 1 Andrew Hilburn March 8 Arnobio Morelix March 15 Michelle Johnson-Motoyama March 29 Emilia Barbosa April 5 Paul Sneed April 12 Robert Castillo April 19 Peter Haney April 26 Javier Valerio
Undergraduate Highlight: Sarah Stern, Latin American Studies &
Stern dancing Samba in the Carnival Encarnación
Perla Sur in Paraguay. Spring 2012
Student Awards
FLAS Fellowship Awardees Graduate Academic Year Recipients Lindsay Dudley, MA LAS (Quichua) Phillip Duncan, PhD Linguistics (Kaqchikel) Francisco Enciso, MA LAS (Portuguese) Joshua Homan, PhD Anthropology (Quichua) Lisa Scrivener, MA LAS & MBA (Portuguese) Heather Wehr, MA Anthropology (Kaqchikel) Melanie Wetzel, MA LAS (Kaqchikel) Undergraduate Academic Year Recipients Fisher Adwell, Anthropology (Quichua) Zach O'Bea, LAS (Portuguese) Summer Graduate Recipients Edma Delgado, PhD Candidate Spanish & Por-tuguese (Nahuatl) Chih-Hsiang (“Terry”) Hsieh, PhD Linguis-tics (Quichua) Ariana Toth, MA Geography at Western Mich-igan University (Miskitu) Melanie Wetzel, MA LAS (Miskitu) Summer Undergraduate Recipients Fisher Adwell, Anthropology (Quichua) Devin Gerling, Anthropology & Spanish (Miskitu) Jordan Sparrow, LAS & Co-Major Global and International Studies, Minor Brazilian Studies (Portuguese) Samantha Spurlock, French & Linguistics (Miskitu) 2012 Latin American Field Research Grant
David Cooper, MA Sociology Ecuador Faculty Advisor: Robert Antonio, Sociology Rebecca Crosthwait, PhD Anthropology Mexico Faculty Advisor: Don Stull, Anthropology David Dalton, PhD Spanish & Portuguese Mexico Faculty Advisor: Stuart Day, Spanish & Portu-guese George Klaeren, MA History Spain Faculty Advisor: Luis Corteguera, History
Taylor Tappan, MA Geography Honduras Faculty Advisor: Peter Herlihy, Geography Meghan Farley Webb, PhD Anthropology Guatemala Faculty Advisor: Brent Metz, Anthropology
Stansifer Fellowship Hispano Durón, PhD Student Film Media Studies
Student Updates
Andrew Bailey, MA LAS & MBA, graduated Fall 2011 Philip Duncan, PhD Linguistics, received hon-orable mention by the Midwestern Association of Graduate Schools Distinguished Master’s Thesis Award. Francisco Enciso, MA LAS, Incoming Latin American Studies Master’s Students for Spring 2012! MOAS 2012 Delegation: Lucas Strubing Cartes, Katya Martin, Luis Molinas, Alex O’Nelio, Gena Pollack, Francisco Enciso, Gabriel Racca, Jorge Soberón, Sydney Stone, and Adam Winnett. The 2012 Model Organization of American States Delegation passed all nine of their proposed draft resolu-tions at the MOAS conference that took place April 3rd-7th, 2012. Jacob Rapp, PhD Spanish & Portuguese, Dis-tinguished Service Award Bailey Reimer, junior in American Studies, Linguistics and minor in Latin American Stud-ies named to KU chapter of Mortar Board. Jorge Soberón, MA LAS, participated in the 2012 Model Organization of American States in Washington, D.C. Soberón represented the University of Kansas as lead delegate for Para-guay in the General Committee. Soberón had the great honor of being elected to the prestig-ious Secretary General position for next year’s MOAS 2013.
Student Awards & Updates
The City Council of Kansas City, MO has re-cently honored the founding of the Pan Ameri-can Association of Kansas City (PANAM-KC) by declaring April 14th, 2012 as Pan American Day, and April 16-21 as Pan American Week. Pan American Day, April 14th, has become one of the significant anniversaries of the Continent and recognizes that Kansas City enjoys citizens who originated from all countries of the Ameri-cas. In recognition the city will honorarily
name Grand Boulevard as the Grand Boulevard of the
Americas and will display OAS member na-tions flags along the boulevard. A ceremony attended by City officials, the US Assistant Sec-retary of State for Western Hemisphere Affairs, diplomats, guests, and citizens of the KC area will enhance the community’s knowledge of the overall significance of the countries of the Americas to the United States. The City Coun-cil is looking forward to evolving into an inter-nationally recognized city in the Americas.
April 12th Pan American Day in Kansas City
Thank you for your support!
Why give to the Center of Latin
American Studies? By giving to LAS, you contribute to Latin American academic activities, community outreach, special
guests and cultural events and student research like that described in the preceding pages of our news-
letter.
The Center of Latin American Studies
Supports the development of new courses about Latin America, faculty and student research trav-
el for study of Latin American languages and research topics.
Disseminates knowledge of Latin America through academic conferences, seminars, weekly
brownbag Merienda lectures, cultural performances, museum exhibits and cultural celebrations.
Organizes teacher workshops to help Kansas educators incorporate Latin American languages
and cultures into their classroom curriculum.
Visiting scholars, lectures series and field trips
Donations to the Center of Latin American Studies may be used for:
· Undergraduate or graduate study abroad scholarships
· Research or conference travel for students or faculty
· Public programs such as conferences, lectures, exhibits and performances
· The Latin Americanist Newsletter
You may give online by visiting the “Giving” page on The Latin American Studies website (http://
latamst.ku.edu/about/giving/index.shtml). Online giving is secure, speedy and simple. Click the area
you would like to support and you will be redirected to the website of KU Endowment, the non-profit
fundraising organization that supports KU.
Latin American Studies Contingency Fund: Donations help fund undergraduate or graduate study
abroad scholarships, research or conference travel for students and faculty, public programs such as
conferences, lectures, exhibits and performances, and the Kansas Latin Americanist newsletter.
Stansifer Fund: Initially endowed by Professor Emeritus Charles Stansifer, this fund awards support
to graduate students planning to complete a doctorate in the study of Middle America (defined as
Central America, Mexico, and the Caribbean). Fellowships are granted on a competitive basis.
In honor of Anita Herzfeld: Donations help to build a scholarship fund which will help sponsor un-
dergraduate students who wish to study abroad.
If you wish to send a donation by mail, please contact us at: